A violent assault at a relatively new barbershop in Merritt has the RCMP looking for suspects, and asking for information which could help locate them.

RCMP say two men, wearing all black, masks and gloves, burst into the Voght Street business at around 8:30am on Monday and began attacking the owner.

“The suspects violently assaulted the lone man working at the shop,” said Merritt RCMP in a release the day after the attack.   “Nothing was taken and it appears as if the attack was targeted.”

Mounties have not said how seriously the owner, who identifies themselves as “JJ” in posts for their business on Facebook, was hurt in the assault.

Those same posts indicate JJ’s Barbershop opened around the beginning of April, 2024 in the Royal LePage building on Voght Street, just a couple of blocks into Merritt from the north end of Voght Street, which provides direct access to the Coquihalla or the 5A.

Adding to the suggestion the attack was pre-planned, RCMP say after the assault, the suspects then bolted to their get-away vehicle parked a block away on a road running parallel to Voght, which provided them a direct escape route out of Merritt.

“After the assault the suspects fled on foot across Voght Street to a white 4 door sport utility vehicle parked on Irvine Avenue,” noted Merritt RCMP.  “The vehicle was last seen fleeing out of Merritt past River Ranch Road.”

Mounties have been able to provide a long-distance photo of the suspects, as well as the suspected get-away vehicle, which they say is likely a 2017 white Kia Sportage.

Saying they don’t believe there’s any danger to the general public, Merritt RCMP have not provided any background into what may have prompted the “targeted attack.”